Castle Wolfenstein news

OK then. OK now. I believe this is the most ambitious part of this entire porting project. Settle in.

I am of course talking about Josh Mills' Castle Wolfenstein. In its final incarnation - numbered 5.1 - it clocks in at a cool 55 maps, with most walls and sprites replaced with new graphics. But that's not all. The scenario has had numerous previous versions over the years, and as you certainly know by now, I feel a duty - if not a compulsion - to cover all existing versions of the mod currently ported. Not everything is still available, but out of what is in my possession, we have versions 3.0, 3.8, 3.8.1, 3.8.2, 5.0 and 5.1.

It would be folly to try and enumerate all differences between all those versions, of course. Let me just note that they range from 36 to 55 (as previously indicated) maps, of course all of them decorated by various new graphics. Version 3.0 is the least modified, lacking many sprites future versions already have. Nonetheless, the overall set of walls, objects and enemies remains similar throughout the series, with minor modifications; some of them we've seen in other mods, others seem to be custom made for Castle Wolfenstein. Of note is the fact that version 5 introduced a couple particulary nice decorative walls.

Mapping on display is very varied and difficulty remains high throughout, though perhaps not *quite* as high as Temple of Doom (which is not to say you will never encounter rooms chock full of enemies). Maps range from rather small to extremely extensive, offer interesting layouts and tons of enemies to slaughter. One particularly interesting feature is the expanding floor: more than once in later versions of the mod, you will encounter a fairly small layout, only to be transported to a larger, more elaborate version of the same map upon flipping the switch. This happens several times in a row. We've seen mods before where you make your way back through the same layout after taking the elevator, but this is its own thing.

All in all, there's plenty of meat for Mac Wolf aficionados to devour. Enjoy.

(oh, before I forget; like previous releases by Josh Mills, this one also has a demo consisting of three maps and a small selection of new graphics. The demo is included here as usual)